Quick Strike AAR's - What shall I do next?

Earlier this year Little Wars TV challenged wargaming vloggers to make video AAR's that were shorter and more concise than the usual format seen on YouTube. The brief was deceptively simple but also devilishly difficult; to have a full battle report with a running time of 10 minutes or less but with some historical context, a scenario summary, and a recap of the game at the end. Given that normal video battle reports often run for over an hour, the concept of editing that down to just 10 minutes gives you some idea of the challenge.

Despite the seeming difficulty of the task, the concept appealed to my warped mind and I knew I had to give it a go. I've always tried to keep the videos on my channel short because I have long felt that while longer gaming videos are a great resource, there is definitely a gap in the market for shorter content. The other reason this caught my interest is that I have been trying to learn the art of filmmaking with limited equipment and a challenge like this would force me to learn a whole new raft of skills. Like I wasn't busy enough already!!

I've done three Quick Strike videos so far and I have every intention of continuing to do these in the future. The next stage of the learning curve is how to reduce the time commitment to making them so I can do more films, hopefully on a regular basis.

The Battle of Trebia - This was a hugely popular video with YouTube viewers and garnered a significant boost to my channel subscriptions and views. It has to be said it is probably my favorite video so far, simply because who can't be impressed by Romans and Carthaginians going head-to-head!

Next up was a replay of my Operation Caravan game that I originally did as a demo back in 2017. I had to change the table layout a bit and just for kicks I also re-wrote the rules to play the game with (I'm still trying to knock these into shape, so we haven't seen the last of these yet).

Most recently I gave Rorke's Drift the Quick Strike treatment. I did this as a long-format video earlier in the year, but decided I could make it shorter...a LOT shorter! 

I had hoped to have another Quick Strike ready by the end of the year, but the perfectionist in me knows there is a lot of work to be done before I undertake the huge time commitment that making these videos entails. The real point of this post (aside from showcasing the films I have done already) is to gauge what sort of content to do next. So, dear readers, What period would you like to see me tackle next?

• I have plenty of Punic War battles still to explore so maybe I could play another game of To the Strongest with my 6mm Carthaginians and Romans? 
• Or I could revisit the desert raids of the LRDG and SAS against other airfields in Italian-held Libya? My 6mm North African collection also includes forces from Operation Compass through to El Alamein so maybe I could this theatre of war the Quick Strike treatment? 
• I haven't played Chain of Command in a while, and my British Airbourne troops have plenty of actions to explore in the Bocage of Normandy. Maybe it's time I did another 15mm WWII quick-strike AAR? 
• Or maybe I could adapt the format (and stretch the original brief) for a bit of Fantasy and get out my Frostgrave figures and terrain for some action in the icy ruins of Felstad? 

Drop me a line in the comments below or over on my YouTube Channel, Miniature Adventures.

 

A cheeky request...

If you enjoyed any of these films (or indeed, all three) please take the time to nominate them in the Little Wars TV Caesar Awards. There are categories for all sorts of things such as Best Blog, Best YouTube Channel, etc but there is also a category specifically for Best Quick Strike AAR Video. The closing date for nominations is the 31st of December and your vote will help build a shortlist for the awards ceremony which will take place in March next year. I hasten to add I have no expectations of winning - there are some amazing filmmakers in the wargaming community (and I have nominated several of my favorites already) - but I'd be thrilled to bits if I could make the shortlist and it would raise the profile of my channel considerably. 

You can submit a nomination in however many categories you desire and you can make as many submissions as you want, so please check out some of the other amazing content creators on YouTube and give them a nomination as well.